Check Out These Detailed Nintendo Switch Patents

While we wait for more information, take a look at the formal paperwork Nintendo needs to file for their new console.

Though Nintendo finally unveiled their new console, Switch, earlier this year, there's still so much we don't know about the device. Is there a touch screen? What do all the buttons do? And while Nintendo's widely expected to provide those answers at an event in January, for now, we're left with scraps like today: Nintendo filing a bunch of patents about the Switch.

NeoGAF user Rösti is the one who picked up on these drawings and filings, which are fascinating for a couple of reasons. One, it seems to provide closure on the two questions I raised above (there are explicit references to a touch screen, and one of the buttons, "record," seems like the equivalent of PlayStation 4's "share" button). Two, they're just fascinating to look at.

Here are a few excerpts to pour over:

Naturally, the NeoGAF thread is full of speculation, analysis, hopes, and dreams for what Nintendo has planned. And though I'm a reporter known for publishing news that hasn't been announced, I'm just as much in the dark about Switch. Whatever happens, I just want a brand-new 3D Mario game, okay?